


Prelude

by Lilyliegh



Series: Yuuya Appreciation Week 2017 [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Friendship, Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyliegh/pseuds/Lilyliegh
Summary: Yuzu dreams of studying at an international dueling institute for vocalists; she dreams of being a Vocal Duelist or a Duel Idol. However, the beginning of a new adventure is hard.





	Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> for Yuuya Appreciation Week - day 04: support.

Yuuya adjusts the straps of his backpack and shuffles his feet, trying not to be pushed aside by the thousands of people in the Maiami International Airport. Next to him, Yuzu checks and double checks her ticket. It’s hard to tell anxiousness on Yuzu for her face is always set in a smile and she exudes an aura of confidence, but considering she’s looked at her boarding pass ten times now to make sure they’re at the right gate – even though it says the flight number right up on the holographic screen by the gate – Yuuya assumes she’s quite nervous. He’s never seen her so nervous before, but then again …

Reaching out, Yuuya taps her shoulder. “Yuzu?”

Her reaction is instantaneous: she jumps and whirls around, pink hair circling her pale face, eyes so big he can see into her soul. “What?”

“It’s going to be OK. We’re just early, right?”

Yuzu nods. “I didn’t want to be late and rushing around.”

“That’s right, and now that we’re early we can relax. Go on, sit down. I’m going to get you some tea.”

She takes a seat by their luggage and huffs, “I don’t need tea. I need to get on that plane.”

Chuckling, Yuuya says, “Well I don’t even see it there, and we won’t get there any faster if we’re pacing around the airport.” When she doesn’t say anything, Yuuya turns around and weaves through the crowds of people. The large bay windows give natural light to warm up the airport, and everything from the indoor plants to the artistic pieces makes this building seem inviting. Just past their gate is a row of shops and a little cafe. Yuuya picks out a muffin for them to split, and a hot tea for Yuzu to drink. 

When Yuuya comes back, Yuzu is up and out of her seat, looking around again. Gently, Yuuya pushes her back down and before she can snatch up her boarding pass again, he presses the tea into her hands. “Have a drink, relax. We won’t get to Australia any quicker with you burning yourself out.”

He takes a seat next to her and pulls out the muffin. While Yuzu sips at her tea, Yuuya picks at the muffin and looks out at the airstrip. He’s never travelled by air before, and neither has Yuzu; this sight is new and marvelous to them, an adventure both of them are eager and anxious to begin.

The reason they’re travelling is because a few months ago Yuzu was offered an opportunity to study at the Sydney Pacific Dueling Institute, a prestigious duel school known for its Duel Idols. Yuzu has been infatuated with Duel Idols ever since she was a child, but she herself grew up in an Entertainment duel school, she never had the opportunity to branch out until university, when she made the choice to study abroad.

Despite how anxious she appears now, legs crossed and eyebrows drawn together, Yuuya is certain that this is Yuzu’s dream. She loves to duel and sing, and she performs with such grace and beauty; she was made for the stage. And Yuuya? Yuuya is here to support her and travel with her. Yuzu could do this trip alone – she’s smart enough even without much English – but Yuuya wants to be there with her. Yuzu is his closest friend; she has been there for him, so he wants to be there for her.

Through the window a large plane docks at the gate. It’s longer than even the biggest trains Yuuya has seen, and its wings are so wide that Yuuya is surprised it doesn’t hit the building. The body of it has multicoloured sparkles and confetti for the line Air Maiami. In the sunlight, the airplane glitters.

After a few minutes, the flight attendants begin calling aboard passengers, starting with those that need assistance, and then boarding by seat numbers. Yuuya and Yuzu are at the back of the plane, so they hang around waiting for their turns. The more Yuzu waits, the more she paces, and the more Yuuya wants to just randomly start dancing with her. It would probably attract less attention that having her doing laps around the gate.

The flight attendant calls their seats. Yuzu hurries back to grab her luggage, and then pauses.

“Where are the suitcases, Yuuya? All my clothes are in –”

“Yuzu,” Yuuya says, setting a hand on her shoulder, “our luggage is already checked. We just need our carry-ons.” 

Even though his words have been soft and well-meaning, Yuzu still blushes scarlet, huffs, and walks away. The attendant checks their tickets and passports, and then points them towards a tube leading out to the back of the airplane. On the airway, the sound of airplanes taking off and landing forces Yuzu and Yuuya to cover their ears. They climb up the steps into the plane. Most passengers have alreadyboarded, and so Yuuya and Yuzu put their baggage above them and then take their seats. Yuzu takes the window seat so she has something to look at, and Yuuya squeezes between his friend and a middle-aged businessman. 

Everything on the plane is a new feeling. The sensation of lifting off the ground and soaring through the sky. The sight of the world growing smaller beneath them. The view of the vast ocean before them as they leave Japan and head towards Australia. Every step they take is towards a new path. 

By this point, Yuzu has stopped squirming in her seat enough to watch out the window. The water matches the blue of her eyes, so vast as they gaze at the world beyond them. When the plane heads up into the clouds, Yuzu keeps looking out the window. 

“I’m … glad you came,” she says, not taking her eyes off the windows. “Thanks, Yuuya.”

“I wanted to come along,” he tells her.  _ I want to be the last one to say goodbye to you. _

Once they are in the clouds, the trip becomes more anticlimactic. Yuuya adjusts his headrest and leans back for some shut eye; they’ve been at the airport since the early hours of the morning, and he stayed up late last-minute packing with Yuzu and fretting over every little inconvenience that could happen. Now that he’s safely en route to Australia, he can get some sleep. His eyes roll back in his head as he folds his arms in front of him. In his ears are headphones that play a melody Yuzu once sung for him, a song about a promising world. 

It feels like minutes later when Yuzu shakes him awake to let him know they’re descending. Apparently he’s been asleep for the entire flight. Yuzu has the window blinds open so they can watch the ground below. At the first sight of land, they gasp together. The Sydney International airport is barren and dry like a desert, but just beyond the perimeter of grey tarmac is a verdant oasis. The city sprawls outwards, suburbs mixed with city, and pockmarked with green spaces. It feels more like being in City than in Maiami, but nonetheless a new sight. 

At the rate the plane is flying in there isn’t much time to spot anything in particular, but Yuzu has her apartment number and hotel number on her phone. Her apartment luggage won’t arrive for another few days, so in the meantime Yuzu and Yuuya will be staying at a hotel together. The plan is for Yuuya to stay until Yuzu is unpacked – at least a week – and then return home to Maiami. He’s already promised Shuuzou that he won’t leave Yuzu alone until she’s settled into her apartment in Sydney.

Speaking of Yuzu … 

She’s worrying again, nibbling her nails and kicking her feet back and forth, fidgeting in her seat. Yuuya reaches out to take her hand and stop her from biting her nails. 

“It’s going to be OK,” he says. 

When the plane lands, they are one of the first passengers to leave from the back. They grab their carry-ons and head back into the Sydney airport. The air is warm and sticky, hotter than Maiami even, and they fan themselves even on the short walk across the airstrip and into the building. Once inside though, the A/C freezes the sweat and they shiver in the cool building. The Sydney airport is even bigger than Maiami’s, stretching far back with dozens of gates and exits. Yuzu and Yuuya know just enough English to talk to someone and figure out where they are; they follow the symbols for luggage and the crowd heading towards an escalator that takes them down several floors. 

At this floor, they pass through several security checkpoints before heading to the turning carousel for their luggage. From there, they head through more doors, down more escalators, and down long hallways to the exit, where they hail a taxi and point to the address of the hotel.

“Here please,” Yuuya says. 

He hopes the taxi driver will take them in the right direction. Piled into the back of a car, Yuuya and Yuzu watch the city from ground level now. The buildings are even taller and the roads even wider than in Maiami. There are fewer people on the streets until they head into town, but there is never a shortage of vehicles on the road. The taxi swerves between traffic and it makes Yuuya’s heart leap out of his chest.

“Guess you’re going to have to learn how to drive,” Yuuya jokes, and he receives a harsh glare in return.

“I could learn,” Yuzu says. “But honestly, this traffic looks horrible. I’d much rather take the train.”

Yuuya looks around the streets. He sees a train line and there are buses on the road, but he suspects it’s more popular here to commute with cars. In Maiami, the dimensional cities, and even Japan, public transport is much more common.

“We’ll see,” Yuuya says. “Do you know where the duel institute is? Close to the hotel or apartment, right?”

Yuzu nods. “It’s close to the apartment, but the hotel is more centrally located. That’s fine though: I won’t be going to school until September, so by that time I’ll be living in the apartment.”

“Not on campus though?”

“Too expensive.”

Yuuya nods, attention returning to the city which has exponentially grown the closer they’ve gotten to the core. The buildings now scrape the skies and tower over the roads and sidewalks. There are all sorts of major shopping centres here, and nestled between them are hotels, apartments, and offices. Yuuya tries to imagine living in such a big city; Maiami is large enough. 

Neither of them realise they’re at the hotel until the taxi swerves into the drop-off parking and begins offering to help them take out their luggage. How a  _ hotel  _ can fit into this cramped city is beyond Yuuya, but he and Yuzu stumble out and gather their belongings. The entrance is massive and made of white stone. There are steps leading up into the lobby, a room that spreads out in all directions. The floor is soft carpet, and all around them are desks with attendants. Yuuya and Yuzu aren’t quite sure which one they’re supposed to go to.

They approach the closest one and ask for “Room reservations,” and are pointed across the room to another attendant. This attendant checks them into their room and gives them the key. She then gestures to where the elevators are and tells them to head up to the nineteenth floor and then to their right.

_ Nineteenth floor?  _ Yuuya thinks. Just how big is this hotel?

He and Yuzu tugs their bags down the hallways, admiring the gold decorations and exquisite moulding that makes the inside of this hotel appear to be a royal palace. In the elevator, they ride up for what feels like they are travelling into outer space before the doors slide open. Like the lobby, the hallway is decorated in gold with rich, russet wood finishings. To the right is a long hallway branching off twice. Since the lady never mentioned any more turns, Yuuya heads down the long hallway until he sees their room.

“Will your house look like this?” Yuuya asks. “All rich and fancy?”

“I don’t think so,” Yuzu says, “but I could get used to living in a palace.”

Their room is at the end of the hallway. Yuzu slips the key into the reader and opens the door. She flicks on the lights. It’s spacious for a hotel room: directly to their left is the bathroom, and to the right is a large closet with mirrored doors. The bed is the centrepiece of their room, dressed up with maroon sheets and several large, fluffy pillows. A desk and chair sit along the wall; a TV is mounted across from the bed. 

Yuzu kicks off her shoes out of habit and sets them by the door. She crosses the room and throws open the blinds. The room bathes in sunlight, chasing back any shadows. The view from the nineteenth floor is breathtaking, a sight Yuuya could only dream of seeing. Sydney is much bigger than anything Yuuya has seen before. He feels like an ant before a great beast.

Next to him, Yuzu looks equally terrified. Is this the future she imagined? Does she want to live in a city that could swallow her up? Does she even see her dreams in this massive city?

“We can go see the idol academy today, can’t we?” Yuuya says.

Yuzu nods. She then shakes her head and rubs her eyes, and says, “Yeah, so long as you’re not too tired.”

Yuuya shakes his head though. “I’m fine with whatever we do, Yuzu. You just look … eager to see it.”  _ And scared,  _ Yuuya thinks.

Yuzu says nothing to those words. She brings her suitcase over to her bed. As she slips on her shoes, she adjusts her hair, face rising and falling as she tries to smile. Yuuya comes to stand behind her and he buries his face into her back, moaning, “Don’t force yourself to smile, Yuzu-chan. It doesn’t look right.”

“I’m not forcing myself,” she retorts. “I don’t want to look like a mess when I go to my future school. I want to make a good first impression.” She heads back to her suitcase after that and pulls out a new dress, a one-piece with blue and white stripes that complements the pink tones of her hair. She slips on a pair of heels and adjusts a wide-brim sunhat. 

“You don’t even have your shoes on yet,” she teases, swinging her clutch around on her wrist. “Come on.”

Yuuya tugs on his sneakers and follows out after her. Travelling down the hallways and elevators once more feels like a trip all on its own, so by the time they reach the street Yuuya’s head is spinning from the new sights. On the ground, the city rises up in all angles. Neither of them know where to go, so they consult Yuzu’s cell phone for the map.

“We’ll need to take another taxi to get there, unless you want to try using the public transit. I think there’s a button for it –”

“Let’s do it!” Yuuya says. “We might as well get some practice before your orientation days. It’s a big school, isn’t it? I bet several trains or buses go to there.” Yuuya leans over her to look at that app. “Yeah, we should just be able to go to … that stop right there and wait for one of those lines. Easy peasy, right?”

“Sure, and then we’ll only need to ride the bus for a few minutes. It looks like it’s only a great distance if we have to walk. It’s more central than I thought.” 

They cross the street together and wait at a crowded bus stop. When the bus comes, Yuuya is glad he’s used to the busy transit of Japan or else he’d feel squished in the vehicle. He and Yuzu don’t get a seat and they’re lucky they’re on the bus at all. When they begin driving, Yuuya and Yuzu hold onto each other so as to not lose their balance. 

“Do you remember the name of the stop?” Yuuya says.

Yuzu shakes her head. She wriggles back and forth to get her phone out, which she holds between the two of them. “I … don’t even know what this word will sound like,” she says. “Why can’t English have normal pronunciation?”

“And they have  _ accents  _ over here –”

Over their heads, Yuuya hears a stop called out. 

“Is that it?”

“How would I know?”

“Check the GPS, maybe we’re close by.”

“Shit, it’s us!”

“We need to get off!”

They stumble forwards just before the doors close on them, feet hitting the pavement. The doors slam closed and the bus gives one hiss before it merges back into traffic. Yuuya and Yuzu breathe a sigh of relief for not missing the stop, and then look up together at where they’ve ended up. On the train, they were forced to huddle close with their heads down; now they can see just what the duel academy looks like. 

The school is at least thrice the size of the hotel, taking up several blocks it appears. The buildings aren’t crowded together like in the city core, but instead arranged neatly on a green campus. The bus has dropped them off right in the heart of the campus too; to his left Yuuya can see the student services building, and to the right there is a cafeteria and bookstore. Further down are buildings just like at their university.

This … is a duel school? You Show is one building, albeit it a tall one, but it can’t compare to the grandeur of this academy. Yuzu claps her hands together and lets out one excited giggle. Her feet kick back and forth like a schoolgirl’s; her excitement is prominent. Yuuya looks around the campus with her and tries to imagine this new life. Yuzu will live here. She’ll be studying as an duel idol. He doesn’t think she’ll ever forget her roots as an Entertainment duelist, but as a Vocal duelist she’ll learn even more. 

“This is such a cool place, Yuzu.”

She nods.

“Do you like it here?”

She nods again.

Just under the surface, Yuuya can see her anxiety bubbling. He takes her hand, mumbling “Let’s take a walk together,” and the two of them begin to circle the campus. All of the buildings are made of red brick or white cement, and throughout the campus they find little treasures or memorials for famous Vocal duelists. Yuuya has never heard of such a style before, but Yuzu once told him that it’s only recently been taken up in Japan, and the dimensional cities are always behind on what’s new and cool.

“Mizuki-chan is a Vocal duelist in Heartland,” she says. “Mizuki Kotori. I think she did distance education –”

“But you wanted to move,” Yuuya says. He doesn’t mean to make such a statement, but Yuzu bristles nonetheless. 

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Yuuya says. “I’m glad you got the opportunity to move away, see more of the world, and pursue your passions. You’ve got a bright future, Yuzu.”

His words get her cheeks blushing, and she pushes him away. “You’re too sappy, Yuuya. Besides … I don’t even know if this future is for me.” She stops at those words, head dropping in time with her mood. Yuuya can see the sadness leaking out now. She’s been worrying about this for weeks, about moving forward with her life and away from Maiami City. “I’m so far away from everyone, and I might never return. I might find a job here and stay indefinitely, and I’ll never see anyone again.”

Carefully, Yuuya takes Yuzu’s hand and walks her over to the shade of a great tree with long, hanging branches. She follows him, only lingering a bit as if unsure what he’ll do next. Yuuya doesn’t know himself. He settles down under the tree, lying back with his arms propped back behind his head. For a moment, Yuzu stands. She’s unsure where she should be, either sitting on the ground or lying beside him.

Yuuya understands her feelings of being lost. He reaches out a hand and then pats at the ground. She takes a seat next to him, and after a minute lies back down. Her eyes rolled closed at that.

“Yuuya?”

“Yes?”

Her hands shuffle against the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuya can see her ripping up stalks of grass. She’s anxious; he can tell, But she’s talking, and Yuuya appreciates that.

“I … I’m scared. Of living alone, that is. Of being away from everyone that I care about. Of going out of my way to become a vocal duelist when all along I might just be an Entertainment duelist.”

“Well, you won’t know until you try it out, right?” Yuuya rolls to his side so that he can look at her more closely. Her eyes are wide and staring straight up at the intertwining branches and leaves. “You’re taking the challenge head-on. That’s not easy, but you’re giving it your best.”

“Am I?”

Yuuya counters it with, “Are you? You seem really excited about this new opportunity a few weeks ago, and even before that when you first signed up for courses here. Are you changing your mind because it’s not what you want, or because you’re a little bit scared at trying something new?”

“At … trying something new.”

“That’s understandable then. You’ve never done this before, and none of us back in Maiami can answer the questions you have. None of us know about the program. But that doesn’t mean we’re letting you drown out here in Australia. We’re here to listen to you and to ask you questions, and help you in the ways that we can. That’s why I came out here: to be with you and support you in this new step of your life.”

Yuuya scooches closer, until he’s so close to Yuzu that he can count her eyelashes or pick out the many blue hues in her eyes. “Yuzu, you’re so important to me that I wanted to support you in this decision. I’m so happy you want to take on this challenge! That’s why I came – because along the way, I thought you might need some help in adjusting, and I don’t want you to think that you had to brave this all on your own. Your friends and family in Maiami are here to support you. We’re listening.”

Yuzu nods.

“Let’s get through this together, all right?” He stretches out a hand, fingers wide.

Yuzu’s smile is like a melody, a song that Yuuya will always hear in his ears. When she takes his hand, her grip is firm and steady; her soul is unwavering. Under the shade of the tree and across the sea, this new adventure seems daunting. It’s not impossible though. Yuzu has what it takes to become a Vocal duelist. And sure, Yuuya knows that she’ll have her ups and downs and doubts, but he’s there to stand firm with her decision and help her through it all.

_ I’ll be with you,  _ he wants to say, and he’s sure she can understand his feelings. 


End file.
